The productive Conny Olivetti, whom I have written about before, released the new album “Ley Lines” in May. And while that album was waiting for a post another album was released, “Lumino”, but I will come back to that in a later post.

As before I’m fascinated by Conny’s ability to move from different ambiences and themes, in time and space, from one album to another, and each time manage to create a wholeness. It’s also the case on this album, which for me more feels like an inner journey than a journey to another place or time. The title theme “Ley Lines” frames, with it’s six parts that start and end the album, 5 other songs.

Ley Lines feels a lot like retro electronica, somewhat minimalistic but yet with a lot of detail and shifting. The other songs feel suggestively dark and on three of the songs we can hear the vocals from Linnea, a singer Conny has collaborated with before in the band wHaT iF?. Fun is also the jungle adventure “Speed Dating in the Amazonas”, a song that brings up memories from Yello.

The albumet is available for free on Conny’s Bandcamp page. You can follow him on his site.

Connections

A year and a half ago I wrote about Modual, who then surprised me with the pleasant EP “Infinity”. Obviously I missed writing about the EP “In All Kinds” last year, but in any case they’re back now with the new EP “Choose Your Confusion”, where they continue with their own mix of  DnB, dubstep and pop: popstep. This EP is at least as good and contains both nice pop songs and cool chillout music. On two tracks they get help with the vocals by Signe.

Generously they offer free download of the EP on their Bandcamp page, but if you prefer Spotify or Wimp, the music is available there too. You can also find Modual on Facebook.

Fade Away (feat Signe)
No Way Out

It’s not common that I receive good and intriguing pitches from artists and lables, i.e. promo texts that makes me flinch and urge me to find out more. Some month ago I received a good one, though, from Nick Ellis and the Noise, who just had released their debut single, “Delorean”:

My name is Nick Ellis. I’ve made a drum machine with the producer Max Martin, and now I’m using it to make music with my pals in Nick Ellis and the Noise.

We play synth pop and sounds like a mix of Depeche Mode and Beverly Hills Cop.

(translated from Swedish)

I listened to the song and sure there was retro sounding pop from the eighties. To me it doesn’t remind me too much of  Depeche Mode or Beverly Hills Cop, but definitely of a mix of English and American synth pop from the middle of the eighties, with an emphasis on the American part.

A few days ago, they also released a second single, “Breaking Apart”, which you can listen to on their site or on Spotify.

And what about this drum machine, which obviously Max Martin also was involved in? It turns out that Nick Ellis, who’s real name is Niklas Möller, was the designer of one of the most popular software drum machines today,  Addictive Drums, and is also one of the founders of the company behind the product, XLN Audio.

Here’s the first single, “Delorean”, as a sound track and as a video:

Delorean

Here’s a song with electronica duo Friday Bridge in a collaboration with Nicolas Makelberge. Disco pop with an air of bright pop; maybe a little of Fleetwood Mac like they suggest themselves. The duo has released two albums before, which you can check out on Spotify. Follow them on Facebook.

Dark Heart

Amina Hocine is a young interesting artist hailing from Göteborg, who also has Algerian roots. She experiments with ambient backgrounds, which she explores with her lyrics and vocal melodies. It’s naked, creative and entralling as I listen to the albums she’s released on her Bandcamp page. You can also follow her music on Soundcloud. You can find her site on Tumblr and she also has a Facebook page.

Redwood